United States · United States Congress · 11 May 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to provide that ancestors and lineal descendants of past or present members of the Armed Forces shall be taken into account in determining whether a veterans' organization is exempt from tax.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Breast and Cervical Cancer Prevention and Treatment Act of 2000 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act (SSA) to give States the option of making medical assistance for breast and cervical cancer-related treatment services available during a presumptive eligibility period to certain low-income women without creditable coverage who have already been screened for such cancers under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention breast and cervical cancer early detection program and need treatment. Amends the Public Health Service Act (PHSA) and the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (Food and Drug Act) with regard to human papillomavirus (HPV). Outlines various surveillance (including study), prevention, and educational measures concerning HPV. Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) under PHSA to require all its publicly available informational materials related to condoms or sexually transmitted diseases to specifically state the effectiveness or lack of effectiveness of condoms in preventing the transmission of HPV, herpes, and other sexually transmitted diseases. Requires under the Food and Drug Act that the labeling of condoms indicate that condoms do not effectively prevent the transmission of HPV and that such virus can cause cervical cancer.
United States · United States Congress · 4 May 2000
Extends condolences to the family of His Eminence John Cardinal O'Connor and to the Archdiocese of New York upon his death. Recognizes with appreciation and respect his commitment to and example of faith, love, respect, and dignity for all mankind.
United States · United States Congress · 13 April 2000
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the Clinton Administration should: (1) condemn the arrest and continued prosecution of the 13 Iranian Jews arrested in 1999 by the authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran and accused of spying for the United States and Israel; (2) demand that such charges be dropped and such individuals be released; and (3) ensure that Iran's treatment of this case is a benchmark for determining the nature of current and future U.S.-Iran relations.
United States · United States Congress · 6 April 2000
Constitutional Amendment - Requires any legislative measure changing the internal revenue laws to require the concurrence of two-thirds of the Members of each House voting and present, unless the legislative measure is determined not to increase the internal revenue by more than a de minimis amount. States that for the purposes of determining any increase in the internal revenue, there shall be excluded any increase resulting from the lowering of an effective rate of any tax. Permits Congress to waive such requirements when: (1) a declaration of war is in effect; or (2) the United States is engaged in military conflict which causes an imminent and serious threat to national security and is so declared by an adopted joint resolution. Prohibits any increase in the internal revenue enacted under such a waiver from being effective for longer than two years.
United States · United States Congress · 5 April 2000
Next Generation Technology Innovation Awards Act of 2000 - Amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to establish a program of Next-Generation Technology Innovation Awards, as part B of title III (Technology for Education) of ESEA. (Eliminates the current part B Star Schools Program.) Authorizes the Secretary of Education, through the Office of Educational Technology, to award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements on a competitive basis to eligible applicants, which are consortia that include: (1) at least one State educational agency or local educational agency; and (2) at least one institution of higher education, for-profit entity, museum, library, other public or private entity with appropriate expertise. Sets forth requirements for applications, plans, priorities, uses of funds, and evaluation. Authorizes the Secretary to require a non-Federal share of up to 50 percent of the cost of activities assisted pursuant to such an award. Authorizes appropriations. Repeals provisions for a program of national challenge grants for technology in education.
United States · United States Congress · 3 April 2000
Medicare Drug Coverage Preservation Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act to include within the definition of "medical and other health services," for purposes of coverage, drugs and biologicals which are not usually self-administered by the patient (currently, drugs and biologicals which cannot, as determined in accordance with regulations, be self-administered).
United States · United States Congress · 23 March 2000
Stamp Out Breast Cancer Reauthorization Act - Amends the Stamp Out Breast Cancer Act to extend until July 29, 2002, or the end of the two-year period beginning on this Act's enactment, whichever is later, the authority under which postal patrons may contribute to funding for breast cancer research through the voluntary purchase of certain specially issued U.S. postage stamps. Requires the Comptroller General to make a report to Congress on the operation of this Act, in addition to a previous mandated report.
United States · United States Congress · 22 March 2000
Congratulates: (1) the people of Taiwan for the successful conclusion of presidential elections on March 18, 2000; (2) President Lee Teng-hui for his significant contributions to freedom and democracy on Taiwan; (3) President-elect Chen Shui-bian and Vice-President-elect Annette Hsiu-lien Lu for their victory. Expresses the sense of the House of Representatives that the People's Republic of China should abandon its provocative threats against Taiwan and undertake steps that would lead to a substantive dialogue, including a renunciation of the use of force against Taiwan and progress toward democracy, the rule of law, and protection of human and religious rights in the People's Republic of China. Affirms the provisions of the Taiwan Relations Act as the legal standard by which U.S. policy toward Taiwan shall be determined.
United States · United States Congress · 9 March 2000
State Bank Examination Fee Repeal Act - Amends the Federal Deposit Insurance Act and the Federal Reserve Act to repeal the authority of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, respectively, to assess against a State depository institution fees representing expenses incurred in conducting an examination of such institution by Federal examiners.
United States · United States Congress · 8 March 2000
Postmasters Fairness and Rights Act - Amends Federal law to prescribe guidelines within which the Postal Service shall propose changes in pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefit programs affecting postmasters which are to be in effect during the period covered by a collective bargaining agreement between the Postal Service and certain recognized bargaining representatives. Grants certain qualified postmasters' organizations the right to participate in program planning and development pertaining to pay policies, schedules, and fringe benefits.
United States · United States Congress · 29 February 2000
High-Speed Rail Investment Act of 2000 - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a limited tax credit to holders of qualified intercity passenger rail carrier bonds. Sets forth definitions, State matching requirements, and other rules.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2000
Thomas Navarro FDA Patient Rights Act - Amends the Public Health Service Act to prohibit the Secretary of Health and Human Services from placing a clinical hold on an investigation of a drug on the basis that the Secretary has determined that: (1) there is another drug (including another investigational drug) that is or may be a safe and effective therapy for the disease or condition involved; or (2) there is a comparable or satisfactory alternative therapy available for a patient who is receiving or will receive the drug as a clinical subject in the investigation, subject to exception.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2000
2002 Winter Olympic Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to mint and issue five dollar gold coins and one dollar silver coins emblematic of the participation of American athletes in the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. Mandates that coin design be selected by the Secretary after consultation with: (1) the Commission of Fine Arts; (2) the United States Olympic Committee; and (3) Olympic Properties of the United States-Salt Lake 2002 (created and owned by the Salt Lake Organizing Committee). States that all surcharges from the coin sales ($35 for a $5 coin and $10 for a $1 coin) shall be distributed by the Secretary to: (1) Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002; and (2) the United States Olympic Committee.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2000
Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument Act of 2000 - Designates the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument in southern California, to be managed jointly by the Secretaries of the Interior and of Agriculture. Provides that nothing in the establishment of the Monument shall be construed as: (1) affecting Indian Reservations, individually held trust lands, Indian allotments, lands or interests in lands held by the State of California or its political subdivision, a special district, or the Mount San Jacinto Winter Park Authority, or private property rights within the Monuments boundaries; nor (2) granting the Secretaries authority on or over non-Federal lands not already provided by law. Requires the Secretaries to prepare a management plan for the conservation and protection of the Monument. Provides for the continued use by the University of California of certain Federal lands within the Monument (including other specified existing and historical uses). Authorizes the Secretary of the Interior, without further authorization by law, to exchange lands with the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians for purposes of this Act. Requires the Secretaries to jointly establish an advisory committee for the Monument to advise them with respect to the preparation and implementation of the management plan. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 16 February 2000
Medicaid DSH Preservation Act of 2000 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act, with respect to provisions regarding adjustments in payments for inpatient hospital services furnished by disproportionate share hospitals (DSH), to require allotments for FY 2001 (currently, FY 2003) and succeeding fiscal years to DSH to be equal to the allotment for the State for the preceding fiscal year.
United States · United States Congress · 15 February 2000
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from gross income payments made under Department of Defense education loan repayment programs to members of the armed forces and Selected Reserve with specified military and critical specialties and specified health and critical medical skills.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Authorizes the President, on behalf of Congress, to present a gold medal to Charles M. Schulz, in recognition of his lasting artistic contributions to the Nation and the world. Authorizes a specified amount to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund to pay for the costs of such medals. Mandates that sales proceeds from duplicate bronze medals be deposited into such Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Private Mortgage Insurance Technical Corrections and Clarification Act - Amends the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998, with respect to the definition of " cancellation date" to replace "amortization schedules" with, and define,"amortization schedule then in effect" for purposes of adjustable rate mortgages. Includes balloon mortgages within the definition of "adjustable rate mortgages." States that if a residential mortgage loan is modified (with mortgagor-mortgagee agreement) the cancellation date, termination date, or final agreement shall be recalculated to reflect such modifications. (Sec. 4) Extends mortgage insurance cancellation rights beyond the cancellation date for a qualifying borrower who is current on required payments. (Sec. 5) Revises the automatic termination date with respect to a mortgagor who is not current on payments as of the mortgage termination date. States that the cancellation or termination of private mortgage insurance shall not affect the rights of any mortgagee, servicer, or insurer to enforce any accrued obligation for premium payments. (Sec. 6) Revises specified definitions.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Commemorative Coin Act - Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to issue five-dollar gold coins, one-dollar silver coins, and half-dollar clad coins emblematic of the inspirational life and works of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Mandates prompt payment of all surcharges received from the coin sales to the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Legacy Fund of the Library of Congress for the purpose of securing the personal papers of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., for the Library of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 10 February 2000
Consumers' Home Improvement Protection Act - Amends the National Housing Act to direct the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to take the following actions to prevent rehabilitation loan program fraud: (1) prohibit identity of interest of borrowers (including nonprofit organizations), lenders, consultants, real estate agents, inspectors, or appraisers; (2) establish nonprofit organization participation standards; (3) prohibit final loan disbursement until rehabilitation completion; and (4) require consultant certification and contractor qualification (for projects of $25,000 or more). Directs the Secretary report on nonprofit organization program participation.
United States · United States Congress · 9 February 2000
Home Heating Oil Price Stability Act - Instructs the Secretary of Energy to immediately create a fuel oil reserve containing two million barrels of heating oil in leased storage facilities in the New York Harbor area and 4.7 million barrels in one of the four Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) caverns in the Gulf Coast. Permits the Secretary to fill such heating oil reserve by trading SPR crude oil for heating oil. Authorizes the President to immediately draw down the Fuel Oil Product Reserve only when domestic fuel oil prices rise sharply because of anticompetitive activity, during a fuel oil shortage, or during periods of extreme winter weather. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 8 February 2000
Authorizes presentation of a gold medal on behalf of Congress to former President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Reagan. Authorizes specified sums to be charged against the United States Mint Public Enterprise Fund for medal costs. Mandates that sale proceeds from duplicate bronze medals be deposited into such Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 7 February 2000
Hospital Preservation and Equity Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 with regard to the one year sole community hospital payment increase, to reset the applicable percentage increase for FY 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year to the market basket percentage increase for hospitals in all areas for purposes of updating payments to prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals for inpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2000
Student Athlete Protection Act - Amends the Federal judicial code to include as unlawful sports gambling a lottery, sweepstakes, or other betting, gambling, or wagering scheme based, directly or indirectly, on one or more: (1) competitive games in which high school or college athletes participate; (2) performances of high school or college athletes in competitive games; or (3) competitive games at the Summer or Winter Olympics.
United States · United States Congress · 3 February 2000
American Hospital Preservation Act of 2000 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA), as amended by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999 with regard to provisions on the one year sole community hospital payment increase, to reset the applicable percentage increase for FY 2001 and each subsequent fiscal year to the market basket percentage increase for hospitals in all areas for purposes of updating payments to prospective payment system (PPS) hospitals for inpatient hospital services.
United States · United States Congress · 31 January 2000
Authorizes the President to present, on behalf of Congress, a congressional gold medal to John Cardinal O'Connor, Archbishop of New York, in recognition of his accomplishments as a priest, a soldier, and a humanitarian. Authorizes the Secretary of the Treasury to strike and sell bronze duplicates. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2000
Pope John Paul II Congressional Gold Medal Act - Authorizes the presentation of a gold medal to Pope John Paul II in recognition of his contributions to peace and religious understanding. Authorizes appropriations. Mandates that proceeds from duplicate bronze medal sales be deposited in the Numismatic Public Enterprise Fund.
United States · United States Congress · 27 January 2000
Oil Price Safeguard Act - Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to deem a severe energy supply to exist if the President determines that: (1) a significant reduction in petroleum supply of significant scope and duration has caused a significance increase in the price of petroleum products which is likely to cause a significant adverse impact upon the national economy; and (2) a substantial cause of such reduction is the anticompetitive conduct of foreign countries or international entities. Mandates that proceeds from petroleum sales drawn down pursuant to the President's determination be deposited in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) Account and used exclusively for specified Account purposes. Requires the President to report certain information and analyses to specified congressional committees if crude oil prices exceed $25 per barrel for more than 14 days.
United States · United States Congress · 18 November 1999
United States Training on and Commemoration of the Armenian Genocide Resolution - Calls upon the President: (1) to provide for appropriate training and materials to all Foreign Service officers, officials of the Department of State, and any other executive branch employee involved in responding to issues related to human rights, ethnic cleansing, and genocide by familiarizing them with the U.S. record relating to the Armenian Genocide and the consequences of the failure to enforce the judgments of the Turkish courts against the responsible officials; and (2) in his annual message commemorating the Armenian Genocide issued on or about April 24, to characterize the systematic and deliberate annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians as genocide and to recall the proud history of U.S. intervention in opposition to the Armenian Genocide.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Authorizes the American Battle Monuments Commission to place within the Vietnam Veterans Memorial a plaque to honor those Vietnam veterans who died after service in the Vietnam War, but as a direct result of such service, and whose names are not otherwise eligible for placement on the Memorial wall.
United States · United States Congress · 10 November 1999
Long Island Sound Restoration Act - Amends the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to require the office established to assist the Management Conference of the Long Island Sound Study (Management Conference) to assist in efforts to establish a system for trading nitrogen credits within the process for granting watershed general permits. Authorizes States, in making assistance available for the upgrading of wastewater treatment facilities under provisions regarding the Long Island Sound, to give priority to a distressed community. Provides for negative interest rates on loans made to such communities for implementation of the Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for Long Island Sound (Plan). Extends through FY 2003 the authorization of appropriations for: (1) carrying out the Management Conference; and (2) making grants for projects and studies to implement the Plan. Increases the maximum amount available for such grants.
United States · United States Congress · 28 October 1999
Expresses support for the goals and ideas of Italian-American Heritage Month and recognizes the significant contributions that Italian Americans have made to the United States.
United States · United States Congress · 27 October 1999
Amends rule XXI (restrictions on certain bills) of the Rules of the House of Representatives to prohibit the consideration of a bill, joint resolution, amendment, or conference report that provides for the designation or redesignation of any building, highway, or other structure in honor of an individual who is serving as a Member of Congress.
United States · United States Congress · 26 October 1999
Health Care Restoration Act of 1999 - Title II (sic): Provisions Relating to Part B - Subtitle A: Payment for Physician Services - Amends part B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) of title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act (SSA) with regard to payment for physicians' services to provide for: (1) an update to the specified conversion factor for years beginning with 2001; (2) modification of requirements concerning conversion factors, updates, and sustainable growth rate; and (3) inclusion of a limitation on application of the practice expense site-of-service differential and of a revision to 1997 relative value units (RVUs) under provisions for computation of RVUs for components. (Sec. 202) Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), for a report to Congress, to use data collected or developed by entities and organizations other than HHS to supplement its data in determining the practice expense component used for purposes of determining relative values for payment for physicians' services under the Medicare fee schedule. (Sec. 203) Directs the Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration to study and report to Congress on the physician and non-physician clinical resources necessary to provide safe outpatient cancer therapy services and the appropriate payment rates for such services under Medicare. Subtitle B: Hospital Outpatient Services - Amends SSA title XVIII part B with regard to the prospective payment system (PPS) for hospital outpatient department (OPD) services to require the Secretary to provide for outlier adjustment and for transitional pass-through payment for additional costs of innovative medical devices, drugs, and biologicals. Provides for application of such new adjustments on a budget neutral basis. Limits judicial review for such new adjustments. (Sec. 211) Includes medical devices as covered OPD services. Limits variation of costs of services classified within a group. (Sec. 212) Adds a transitional adjustment to limit decline in payment for certain covered OPD services furnished before January 1, 2002 and during 2002 and 2003, pursuant to specified guidelines. Directs the Secretary to report to Congress on whether the PPS for covered OPD services furnished under Medicare should apply to various specified providers of outpatient items and services for which payment is made under Medicare, including rural health clinics and rural referral centers. (Sec. 213) Adds to the special rules for certain hospitals rules for cancer and small rural hospitals pertaining to the amount of PPS payment for covered OPD services furnished before January 1, 2005. (Sec. 214) Revises provisions on periodic review and adjustments components of PPS, mandating at least an annual review by the Secretary, among other changes. Subtitle C: Other - Amends SSA title XVIII part B to place a two-year moratorium on the caps for certain physical and occupational therapy services. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA '97) to modify congressional reporting requirements pertaining to HHS recommendations on the establishment of a revised coverage policy for outpatient physical and occupational therapy services. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on utilization patterns for such services, and speech-language pathology services covered under Medicare. (Sec. 222) Provides that if the Secretary implements a revised PPS for services of ambulatory surgical facilities under Medicare part B before incorporating data from the 1999 Medicare cost survey, such system shall be implemented consistent with specified principles, such as the principle of budget neutrality. (Sec. 223) Amends BBA '97 to expand coverage to direct services for Medicare beneficiaries participating in certain demonstration projects. Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on the use of telemedicine. (Sec. 224) Amends part D (Miscellaneous) of SSA title XVIII with regard to determination of facility specific per diem rates under the PPS for skilled nursing facilities for routine service costs. (Sec. 225) Directs the Administrator for Health Care Policy and Research to provide for a study and report to Congress that compares the differences in quality of ultrasound and other imaging services (including error rates and resulting complications) furnished under the Medicare and Medicaid (SSA title XIX) programs between such services furnished by individuals who are credentialed by private entities or organizations and by those who are not so credentialed. Requires the study to examine and evaluate differences in error rates and patient outcomes as a result of the differences in credentialing. (Sec. 226) Requires the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPac) to study and report to Congress on the regulatory burdens placed on all classes of health care providers under Medicare parts A (Hospital Insurance) and B (Supplementary Medical Insurance) to determine the costs these burdens imposed on the nation's health care system. (Sec. 227) Amends part D of SSA title XVIII to eliminate the time limitation on Medicare benefits for immunosuppressive drugs. Title III: Provisions Relating to Parts A and B - Subtitle A: Home Health Services - Directs the following officials to do the following: (1) the Secretary to report to Congress and the Comptroller General (CG) on specified matters with respect to the data collection requirement of patients of Medicare home health agencies under the Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) standard as part of the comprehensive assessment of patients; and (2) the CG to conduct an independent audit for a report to Congress on the costs incurred by such agencies in complying with such requirement. (Sec. 302) Amends BBA' 97 to limit OASIS data collection requirements to Medicare and Medicaid patients. (Sec. 303) Amends part D of SSA title XVIII to provide for a phase-in and partial elimination of the 15 percent reduction in payments under the PPS for home health services. (Sec. 304) Amends part B of SSA title XVIII with regard to home health agency consolidated billing for durable medical equipment. (Sec. 305) Amends part D of SSA title XVIII to include under the PPS for home health services provisions on use of PPS payments for costs associated with the use of telecommunications systems. Subtitle B: Other - Amends part D of SSA title XVIII to permit the reclassification of certain urban hospitals as rural hospitals. (Sec. 312) Directs the MEDPac to study and report to Congress on Medicare payment policy with respect to graduate clinical training of different classes of non-physician health care professionals and the basis for any differences in treatment among such classes. Title V: Provisions Relating to Part C (Medicare+Choice Program) - Subtitle A: Medicare+Choice - Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of SSA title XVIII to provide for the phase-in of a new risk adjustment methodology under provisions for payments to Medicare+Choice organizations. (Sec. 502) Directs the Secretary to provide for the computation and the publication, on an annual basis at the time of publication of the annual Medicare+Choice capitation rates, of information on the level of the average annual per capita costs for each Medicare+Choice payment area. (Sec. 503) Makes various specified changes in Medicare+Choice special election period rules and associated Medicare supplemental health insurance (Medigap) policies provisions permitting enrollment in alternative Medicare+Choice plans in case of involuntary termination of Medicare+Choice enrollment. (Sec. 504) Allows variation in premium waivers within a service area if Medicare+Choice payment rates vary within the area. (Sec. 505) Delays to not later than July 1 (currently, not later than May 1) of each year the submission by each Medicare+Choice organization to the Secretary of adjusted community rate, proposed premium, and related information. Modifies provisions with respect to provision of notice and list of plans and comparison of plan options. (Sec. 506) Revises treatment of accreditation provisions under the Medicare+Choice quality assurance program, directing the Secretary to determine, within 90 days after receiving an application by a private accrediting organization, whether its process meets certain requirements considering the factors described under provisions on the effect of accreditation. (Sec. 507) Reduces from 0.5 to 0.3 percentage points the adjustment in national per capita Medicare+Choice growth percentage for 2001 and 2002. (Sec. 508) Allows the Secretary to extend or renew a reasonable cost reimbursement contract beyond December 31, 2005. (Sec. 509) Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of SSA title XVIII to reduce from five to two years the re-entry period after a contract with a Medicare+Choice organization. (Sec. 510) Directs MEDPac to: (1) study and report to Congress on risk adjustment; and (2) report to Congress on specific legislative changes that should be made to make Medicare Medical Savings Account plans a viable option under the Medicare+Choice program. (Sec. 512) Amends part C (Medicare+Choice) of SSA title XVIII to permit religious fraternal benefit societies to offer a range of Medicare+Choice plans. Subtitle B: Other Managed Care Provisions - Amends BBA '97 to provide for a delay in implementation of the Medicare prepaid competitive pricing demonstration project. (Sec. 522) Amends part D of SSA title XVIII to make OASIS inapplicable to a PACE (program of all-inclusive care for the elderly) program. Title VI: Medicaid - Amends BBA '97 to: (1) make the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) transitional rule permanent; (2) increase the DSH allotment for the District of Columbia, Minnesota, New Mexico, and Wyoming for FY 2000 through 2002; (3) establish a new PPS for Federally-qualified health centers and rural health clinics; and (4) revise the formula used by the Secretary to determine payment amounts to each State which has an approved Medicaid plan. Title VII: State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) - Amends SSA XXI (Children's Health Insurance) (CHIP) to: (1) modify provisions on allotments, among other changes replacing provisions on floor for States with provisions on floors and ceilings in State allotments; and (2) increase appropriations for described territories and commonwealths under CHIP.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1999
Dr. Sydney E. Salmon Access to Cancer Clinical Trials Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code to provide coverage for qualified individuals participating in approved cancer clinical trials if a group health plan or an issuer offering health insurance coverage in connection with a group health plan or in the individual market otherwise provides coverage to such an individual. Directs the Secretaries of Health and Human Services (HHS), of Labor, and of the Treasury to: (1) analyze cancer clinical research and its cost implications for managed care; and (2) submit a report to Congress that contains, among other specified items, an assessment of any incremental cost to group health plans resulting from this Act and recommendations regarding action on other diseases. Requires the Secretaries of Labor, of the Treasury, and of HHS to ensure coordinated administration of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 19 October 1999
Holocaust Education Assistance Act - Authorizes the Secretary of Education to make competitive grants to educational organizations to carry out educational programs about the Holocaust. Authorizes appropriations.
United States · United States Congress · 14 October 1999
Wage and Employment Growth Act of 1999 - Title I: Amendments to Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 - Amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to increase the Federal minimum wage (currently, $5.15 per hour) to: (1) $5.48 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2000; (2) $5.81 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2001; and (3) $6.15 an hour during the year beginning on April 1, 2002. (Sec. 101) Repeals the exclusion from (thus includes in) the meaning of regular rate of remuneration any sums paid as gifts, or in the nature of gifts made at Christmas time or on other special occasions (bonuses). (Sec. 102) Exempts from minimum wage and overtime requirements: (1) certain network or database analysts, designers, and developers, including any whose primary duty is the management or training of employees performing specified duties related to computer systems or software design, or development; (2) certain sales employees with specialized or technical product or service knowledge and a detailed understanding of customer needs, who earn at least one-and-a-half times the minimum wage, plus commissions, and meet other specified requirements; and (3) licensed funeral directors and embalmers. Title II: Small Business Provisions - Amends the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) to increase a self-employed individual's deduction for the health insurance costs of self and family to 100 percent. Denies such deduction only for any month the individual actually participates in an employer-subsidized health plan (currently, for any month the individual is eligible to participate). (Sec. 202) Increases to $30,000 the aggregate cost taken into account for the option to expense certain depreciable business assets of small businesses. (Sec. 203) Increases from 50 percent to: (1) 55 percent in 2001 and after 2001 to 60 percent the deduction for meal and entertainment expenses for small businesses; and (2) 80 percent the deduction of business meal expenses for individuals subject to Federal limitations on hours of service. (Sec. 205) Repeals specified occupational taxes relating to distilled spirits, wine, and beer. Revises the record-keeping requirements for wholesale and retail liquor dealers. Makes it unlawful for any liquor dealer (except one selling beer exclusively) to purchase distilled spirits from any person but a wholesale liquor dealer (excluding a wholesale dealer exclusively in beer) subject to specified record-keeping requirements. Title III: Pension Provisions - Subtitle A: Expanding Coverage - Increases limits on benefits and contributions under qualified pension plans. (Sec. 302) Amends the Code and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) with regard to the tax on prohibited transactions, and in particular certain transactions involving trusts which are part of an owner-employee plan, and which are not exempted from the tax. Limits the meaning of owner-employee, with respect to any non-exempt loan of any part of the corpus or income of a plan to an owner-employee or family member (subchapter S owner, partner, or sole proprietor), to: (1) a participant or beneficiary of an individual retirement plan; or (2) an employer or association of employees which establishes such a plan. (Sec. 303) Modifies top-heavy rules. Redefines certain key employees to: (1) eliminate the ten employees each of whom earns over $30,000 per year and owns the largest interests in the employer; and (2) include an officer of the employer earning more than $150,000 per year. Provides that employer matching contributions shall be taken into account for minimum contribution requirements. Declares that aggregate distributions during the last year (or, for in-service distributions, during the past five years) shall be taken into account when determining: (1) the present value of the cumulated accrued benefit for any employee; or (2) the amount of any employee's account. Excludes from the meaning of top-heavy plan any plan which consists solely of: (1) a cash or deferred arrangement using certain alternative methods of meeting nondiscrimination requirements; and (2) matching contributions which meet certain requirements of a specified additional alternative method of satisfying nondiscrimination tests. Exempts from the minimum benefit requirement, and determination of any employee's years of service with an employer, any service with an employer occurring during a plan year when the plan benefits no current or former employee (frozen plan). Declares that, with respect to top-heavy plans, determination of constructive stock ownership by a five-percent owner shall disregard family attribution requirements. (Sec. 304) Exempts elective deferrals of employer contributions not includable in an employee's gross income from specified limitations on an employer's deductions for such contributions to an employees' trust or annuity plan and compensation under a deferred payment plan. (Sec. 305) Repeals coordination requirements for deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations. (Sec. 306) Eliminates the user fee for requests to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for determination letters with respect to the qualified status of any pension plan maintained solely by one or more eligible employers or any trust which is a part of the plan. (Sec. 307) Subjects participant's compensation to specified limits on deductions for employer contributions. (Sec. 308) Establishes an option to treat employee elective deferrals as qualified plus contributions (which shall not, however, be excludable from gross income). (Sec. 309) Amends ERISA to set the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) insurance premium rate at $5 for each individual plan participant in the case of a new single-employer plan maintained by a small employer. (Sec. 310) Provides for reductions of additional PBGC premiums for new and small plans. Subtitle B: Enhancing Fairness for Women - Amends the Code to allow eligible participants age 50 or over to make additional elective deferrals (catch-up contributions) in any plan year according to a schedule of percentage increments (from ten percent to 50 percent) between 2001 and 2005 and thereafter. (Sec. 322) Increases from 25 percent to 100 percent of compensation (up to $30,000) the maximum allowable annual addition to a participant's plan account. (Sec. 323) Provides for faster vesting of certain employer matching contributions. (Sec. 324) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) to simplify and finalize the regulations relating to specified minimum distribution requirements, and modify them to: (1) reflect current life expectancy; and (2) revise the required distribution methods so that, under reasonable assumptions, the amount of the required minimum distribution does not decrease over a participant's life expectancy. (Sec. 325) Amends the Code to provide for distribution or payment (division of benefits) from an eligible deferred compensation plan upon divorce. (Sec. 326) Directs the Secretary to revise the hardship distribution regulations to provide that six months is the period an employee is prohibited from making elective and employee contributions in order for a distribution to be deemed necessary to satisfy financial need (safe harbor relief for hardship withdrawals from cash or deferred arrangements). Subtitle C: Increasing Portability for Participants - Amends the Code to provide for rollovers among various specified kinds of plans. Revises the requirements for tax-exempt rollovers of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) into eligible (workplace) retirement plans. (Sec. 333) Exempts from certain limitations on the amount of a tax-exempt rollover from an exempt trust: (1) any portion of a distribution transferred in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer to a qualified trust in a defined contribution plan, which is also separately accounted for; and (2) any portion transferred to an eligible retirement plan. (Sec. 334) Provides a hardship exception to the requirement that a tax-exempt rollover be made within 60 days after distribution. (Sec. 335) Amends the Code and ERISA to revise the treatment of a plan as failing to meet minimum vesting standards if a participant's accrued benefit is decreased by amendment of the plan. Declares that a defined contribution plan shall not be treated as failing to meet such requirements merely because the transferee plan does not provide some or all of the forms of distribution previously available under another defined contribution plan in specified circumstances. (Sec. 336) Revises certain restrictions on distributions from qualified cash or deferred arrangements. Eliminates a corporation's disposition of assets or of an interest in a subsidiary as events for which lump-sum distributions are covered (while retaining termination of a plan as a covered event). Changes separation from service to severance from employment as a threshold event for the covered distribution of amounts from a qualified cash or deferred arrangement. (Sec. 337) Excludes from gross income any amount transferred to a defined benefit governmental plan in a direct trustee-to-trustee transfer if it is for: (1) purchase of a permissive service credit; or (2) a repayment of cash-outs to which certain limitations on contributions do not apply. (Sec. 338) Amends the Code and ERISA with respect to restrictions on certain mandatory distributions to allow employers to disregard rollover contributions when determining the present value of nonforfeitable accrued benefits for cash-out purposes. (Sec. 339) Amends the Code, with respect to deferred compensation plans of State and local governments and tax-exempt organizations, to repeal certain additional minimum distribution requirements. Revises requirements for inclusion of deferred compensation in a participant's gross income to limit the taxable year: (1) to the taxable year in which the compensation or income is paid to the participant in the case of a State or local government; and (2) to the taxable year in which the compensation or income is paid or otherwise made available to the participant or other beneficiary in the case of a tax-exempt organization. Subtitle D: Strengthening Pension Security and Enforcement - Amends the Code and ERISA, with respect to the full-funding limitation, to repeal the 155 percent of current liability funding limit in the case of plan years beginning in 1999 or 2000. Sets the applicable percentage of current liability at 160 percent in 2001, 165 percent in 2002, 170 percent in 2003, and nothing afterwards. (Sec. 342) Revises the special rule for an employer's maximum deductible contribution to change the minimum amount, for plans with more than 100 participants, from the unfunded current liability to the unfunded termination liability. Excludes from termination liability, for plans with under 100 participants, any liability attributable to benefit increases for highly compensated employees resulting from a plan amendment made or effective within the last two years before the termination date. (Sec. 343) Amends ERISA with respect to transfer to the PBGC of a missing participant's benefits upon termination of a single-employer plan. Requires the PBGC to prescribe for ipmultiemployer plans missing participant benefit transfer rules similar to those for single-employer plans. Authorizes the plan administrator of a pension plan not otherwise subject to ERISA to elect to transfer to the PBGC a missing participant's benefits upon plan termination. (Sec. 344) Revises the requirements for periodic pension benefits statements. (Sec. 345) Changes from mandatory to discretionary the Secretary of Labor's authority to assess civil penalties against fiduciaries or other persons. Changes the penalty amount from 20 percent of the applicable recovery amount to any amount up to 20 percent of the applicable recovery amount. Revises the meaning of applicable recovery amount. Makes a person jointly and severally liable for the penalty to the same extent that such person is jointly and severally liable for the applicable recovery amount on which the penalty is based. Conditions the assessment of any penalty upon notice to the person and the opportunity for a hearing on the violation and the applicable recovery amount. (Sec. 346) Amends the Code with respect to the excise tax on nondeductible contributions to a qualified employer plan. Allows an employer, in determining the amount of nondeductible contributions, to elect not to take into account any contributions to a defined benefit plan except to the extent they exceed the full-funding limitation. (Sec. 347) Establishes an excise tax (of $100 per applicable individual per day) on a defined benefit plan for failing to give notice to participants of any plan amendment providing for a significant reduction in the rate of future benefit accrual. (Sec. 348) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 with respect to certain limitations on investment in employer securities and employer real property by cash or deferred arrangements. Exempts from such limitations any elective deferral invested in assets consisting of qualifying employer securities, qualifying employer real property, or both, if such assets were acquired before January 1, 1999. (Sec. 350) Amends ERISA to require the convening of a National Summit on Retirement Income Savings at the White House in September 2009. Authorizes the Secretary of Labor to enter into a cooperative agreement with the American Savings Education Council with respect to the planning and operation of such Summit. Revises and adds to the list of required participants in the Summit. Repeals the limitation of additional Summit participants to 200. Provides for presidential appointment of over 100 participants, according to specified rules. Grants the Secretary of Labor reception and representation authority limited specifically to Summit events. (Sec. 351) Directs the Secretary of Labor to develop model language for: (1) the spousal consent required to waive the qualified joint and survivor annuity benefit or qualified preretirement survivor annuity benefit; and (2) a qualified domestic relations order with regard to alternate payees. (Sec. 352) Bars the Secretary of Labor, in certain circumstances (except when the Secretary files a complaint before final court approval of a settlement), from litigating class action or derivative action claims already resolved by a court-approved settlement agreement. Subtitle E: Reducing Regulatory Burdens - Amends the Code and ERISA, with respect to annual valuation of a plan's liability, to require actual valuation only once every three years of a plan whose assets are at least 125 percent of its current liability. Permits use of prior year valuations for any two consecutive plan years, so long as an actual valuation takes place in the third year. (Sec. 362) Amends the Code to allow the reinvestment in qualifying employer securities of any employee stock ownership plan dividend paid by a C corporation, without loss of the corporation's deduction from gross income. (Sec. 363) Amend the Tax Reform Act of 1986 to repeal the transition rule relating to certain highly compensated employees. (Sec. 364) Directs the Secretary to modify Treasury Regulations to provide that employees of tax-exempt organizations who are eligible to make contributions under a salary reduction agreement may be treated as excludable from a 401 (k) plan or 401 (m) plan if: (1) no such employee is eligible to participate in such 401(k) plan or 401(m) plan; and (2) 95 percent of other employees are eligible to participate in such a plan. (Sec. 365) Amends the Code to make a fringe benefit exclusion from gross income of any qualified retirement planning services provided to an employee and his spouse by an employer maintaining a qualified employer plan. (Sec. 366) Directs the Secretary to modify the annual return filing requirements for one-participant retirement plans (covering only the employer and spouse where the employer owns the entire business, or only one or more partners and spouses in a business partnership) to ensure that any plans with assets of $250,000 or less as of the close of the plan year need not file a return for that year. (Sec. 367) Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to continue to update and improve the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (or any successor program), giving special attention to certain tasks. (Sec. 368) Amends ERISA, with respect to limitations on the guarantee of single-employer plan benefits, to rename a "substantial owner" a "majority owner," who owns either the entire interest in an unincorporated trade or business, or: (1) 50 percent or more (currently more than ten percent) of either the capital interest or the profits interest in a partnership; or (2) 50 percent or more (currently more than ten percent) in value of either the voting stock of a corporation or all its stock. Revises the formula for the amount of benefits guaranteed for a majority owner of a plan which is in effect for less than 60 months when the plan terminates. Prescribes priorities for the allocation of assets to benefits when the assets available for the initial allocation are insufficient to satisfy in full the accrued benefits of all the individuals derived from their contributions. (Sec. 369) Amends the Code to repeal the restriction to situations where vouchers are not available of the exclusion from gross income of cash reimbursements as a qualified transportation fringe. (Sec. 370) Repeals the Secretary is mandate, with respect to the nondiscrimination test for matching contributions and employee contributions, to prescribe regulations to prevent the multiple use of the alternative limitation for any highly compensated employee. (Sec. 371) Directs the Secretary to provide that a plan shall be deemed to satisfy nondiscrimination requirements if it satisfies the facts and circumstances test as in effect before January 1, 1994, but only if: (1) it satisfies conditions prescribed by the Secretary to appropriately limit the availability of such test; and (2) it is submitted to the Secretary for a determination of whether it satisfies such test. Revises minimum coverage requirements to allow a plan that otherwise fails to meet such requirements to constitute a qualified plan if it meets certain requirements that were in effect immediately before enactment of the Tax Reform Act of 1986. (Such requirements stated that the plan must at least benefit employees qualifying under a classification set up by the employer and found by the Secretary not to be discriminatory in favor of employees who are officers, shareholders, or highly compensated.) Directs the Secretary to modify certain existing regulations with respect to employers operating separate lines of business to expand the ability of a pension plan to demonstrate compliance with the line of business requirements based upon the facts and circumstances surrounding the design and operation of the plan, even though the plan is unable to satisfy the mechanical tests currently used to determine compliance. (Sec. 372) Amends the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 to extend to international organizations the moratorium on application of certain nondiscrimination rules applicable to State and local governmental plans. (Sec. 373) Increases from 90 to 180 days certain notice and consent periods regarding distributions. Directs the Secretary to modify certain consent regulations to provide that the description of a participant's right, if any, to defer receipt of a distribution shall also describe the consequences of failing to defer such receipt. (Sec. 374) Amends ERISA to revise the requirement that a plan administrator furnish an annual report to each participant to permit the administrator to furnish such reports only upon each participant's request. (Sec. 375) Revises the definition of excess benefit plan. (Sec. 376) Directs the Secretary of Labor to modify a certain regulation to provide that, except in the case of employment, after commencement of benefit payments, with a former employer, any required benefit suspension notice: (1) may be included in the summary plan description rather than in a separate notice; and (2) need not include a copy of the relevant plan provisions. (Sec. 377) Declares that, for purposes of determining the status under State insurance law of a church plan that is a welfare plan, such church plan (and any trust under it) shall be deemed a single-employer plan that: (1) reimburses costs from general church assets; (2) purchases insurance coverage with general church assets; or (3) both. Defines the term "reimbursing costs from general church assets" to mean engaging in a practice that does not have the effect of transferring or spreading risk. Subtitle F: Plan Amendments - Presribes application requirements for plan or contract amendments. Title IV: Extension of Work Opportunity Credit and Welfare-to-Work Credit - Amends the Code to extend from June 30, 1999, through December 31, 2001, the employer's work opportunity credit and welfare-to-work credit. (Sec. 401) Revises the exclusion from the work opportunity credit of wages paid to an employer's nonqualifying rehires to repeal the restriction of such exclusion to individuals previously employed by the employer at any time during which the individual was not a member of a targeted group (thus extending such exclusion to any individuals previously employed by the employer, regardless of whether they were or were not members of a targeted group.) Title V: Estate Tax Relief - Subtitle A: Reductions of Estate and Gift Tax Rates - Amends the Code to repeal the two highest estate tax brackets and replace them with a top bracket of "Over $2,500,000", for which the estate tax rate shall be $1,025,800, plus 50% of the excess over $2,500,000. Repeals the phase out of graduated rates and the unified credit. Requires additional reductions in estate and gift tax rates of one percent for calendar year 2003 and two percent for calendar year 2004 and thereafter. Subtitle B: Unified Credit Replaced With Unified Exemption Amount - Repeals the unified credits against the estate and gift taxes, and replaces them with a unified exemption amount, determined by specified formulae involving amounts ranging from $675,000 in calendar 2001 up to $1 million in calendar 2006 and thereafter. Grants a $60,000 exemption to the estate of a nonresident, non-U.S. citizen, with specified variations for residents of U.S. possessions. Subtitle C: Modifications of Generation-skipping Transfer Tax - Declares that, if any individual makes an indirect skip during such individual's lifetime, any unused portion of such individual's generation-skipping transfer (GST) exemption shall be allocated to the property transferred to the extent necessary to make the inclusion ratio for such property zero. Requires allocation to the property transferred of the entire unused portion if the amount of the indirect skip exceeds such unused portion. (Sec. 522) Declares that, if a trust is severed in a qualified severance, the trusts resulting from such severance shall be treated as separate trusts thereafter. (Sec. 523) Revises valuation rules for gifts for which a gift tax return was filed or deemed allocation made. Provides that, if an allocation of the GST exemption to any transfers of property is deemed to have been made at the close of an estate tax inclusion period, the value of the property shall be its value at such time. (Sec. 524) Directs the Secretary to prescribe circumstances and procedures under which extensions of time will be granted to make an allocation of GST exemption or an election not to apply specified allocation requirements to certain lifetime direct skips, indirect skips, or transfers to a particular trust. Subtitle D: Conservation Easements - Redefines land subject to a qualified conservation easement to mean land, on the decedent's date of death, located in or within: (1) 50 miles (currently, 25 miles) of a metropolitan area; (2) 50 miles (currently, 25 miles) of a national park or wilderness area.; or (3) 25 miles (currently, ten miles) of an Urban National Forest. Title VI: Tax Relief for Distressed Communities and Industries - Subtitle A: American Community Renewal Act of 1999 - American Community Renewal Act of 1999 - Title I: Designation of and Tax Incentives for Renewal Communities - Amends the Internal Revenue Code to authorize the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development to designate (upon local or State nomination) up to 15 renewal communities, of which at least three shall be in rural areas. (Sec. 602) Requires for nomination purposes that: (1) the area be experiencing high rates of poverty and unemployment and general distress; and (2) State and local governments enter into written contracts with community organizations to promote specified economic growth and employment activities. Excludes from gross income capital gains on the sale or exchange of a qualified community asset (stock, business property, or partnership interest) held for more than five years. Allows a specified deduction for amounts paid into a family development account on behalf of an individual or another qualified individual who is a renewal community resident. Excludes from gross income account distributions used for qualified family development expenses (postsecondary education, first-home purchase, business capitalization, medical, and rollovers). Provides a penalty (with exceptions) in addition to inclusion as gross income for nonqualifying distributions. Authorizes: (1) designation of earned income tax credit payments for family development account deposit; (2) a commercial building revitalization tax deduction; (3) increased first year expensing for renewal community businesses; (4) extension of environmental remediation cost expensing and the work opportunity credit for renewal communities; and (5) similar tax treatment of renewal communities and enterprise zones for specified youth residence requirements. (Sec. 605) Permits a deduction for contributions to a family development account whether or not a taxpayer itemizes. Makes conforming amendments to provisions respecting: (1) tax on excess contributions and prohibited transactions; (2) trust and annuity information; (3) tax exemption applications; and (4) the commercial revitalization credit. Subtitle B: Timber Incentives - Amends the Code, with respect to the deductible amortization of reforestation expenditures, to increase the limitation on the aggregate amount of amortizable basis acquired during the taxable year from $10,000 to $25,000 (and from $5,000 to $12,5000 in the case of a separate return by a married individual) but suspends the application of such limitation between December 31, 1999 and January 1, 2004. Title VII: Real Estate Provisions - Subtitle A: Improvements in Low-Income Housing Credit - Amends the Code, with respect to the low-income housing credit, to revise the formula for the State housing credit ceiling. Replaces the set multiplicand of $1.25 (to be multiplied by the State population) with a graduated applicable multiplicand rising from $1.35 for calendar year 2000 to $1.75 for calendar year 2004 and thereafter, and a maximum product of $2 million. Provides for cost-of-living adjustments to the State ceiling. (Sec. 702) Revises the housing priority selection criteria a housing credit agency must use to develop a qualified plan for allocating housing credit dollar amounts among projects. Requires such criteria to include: (1) whether the project would use exisitng housing as part of a community revitalization plan; (2) tenant populations of individuals with children; and (3) projects intended for eventual tenant ownership. Drops from such criteria participation of local tax-exempt organizations. Requires a qualified allocation plan to: (1) give preference in making allocations to projects located in qualified census tracts whose development contributes to a concerted community revitalization plan; and (2) provide a procedure for agency monitoring for noncompliance with habitability standards through regular site visits. (Sec. 703) Requires housing credit agencies to: (1) provide for a comprehensive market study (by a disinterested party, at the developer's expense) of the housing needs of low-income individuals in the area to be served by the project before the credit allocation is made; and (2) make public a written explanation for any allocation of a housing credit dollar amount not made in accordance with the agency's established priorities and selection criteria. (Sec. 704) Revises special rules for the determination of the adjusted basis of buildings eligible for the low-income housing credit. Requires adjusted basis to include property used throughout the taxable year in providing any community service facility designed to serve primarily individuals (even if they are not tenants) whose income is 60 percent or less of area median income. Declares that assistance under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 shall be disregarded in determining whether a building is federally subsidized for purposes of the low-income housing credit. (Sec. 705) Revises the definition of a qualified building (placed in service not later than the second calendar year following a housing credit dollar amount allocation) with respect to which the amount of a low-income housing credit may exceed the credit amount allocated to the building. Sets an alternative date for valuation of the taxpayer's actual basis in the project of which the building is a part (where the actual basis is more than ten percent of the taxpayer's reasonably expected basis). Allows the valuation of the actual basis to be as of the later of the date which is six months after the date that the allocation was made or (as currently) the close of the calendar year in which the allocation is made. Revises the formula for determination of the amount of State housing credit ceiling returned in a calendar year to include the dollar amount previously allocated to a project which fails to meet the ten percent test on a date after the close of the calendar year in which the allocation was made. Revises special rules for the increased basis of a building located in certain high cost areas to redefine a qualified census tract to include, as an alternative to existing criteria, a tract with a poverty rate of at least 25 percent. (Sec. 706) Revises the formula for determining unused housing credit carryovers allocated among certain States. Subtitle B: Provisions Relating to Real Estate Investment Trusts - Amends the Code with respect the real estate investment trusts (REITs). Modifies the asset diversification test for a REIT to disregard in calculating the permissible 25 percent of total assets represented by securities any straight debt meeting specified requirements. (Sec. 712) Excludes from impermissible tenant service income (thus including as rents from real property meeting the requirements of a REIT) any amount received or accrued by the REIT for services furnished or rendered, or management or operation provided, through a taxable REIT subsidiary. Sets forth a special rule including in rents from real property, if specified rental and lodging facility requirements are met, any amounts paid to a REIT by a taxable REIT subsidiary. (Sec. 713) Defines taxable REIT subsidiary. (Sec. 714) Disqualifies for the corporate deduction for interest on indebtedness any interest paid or accrued (directly or indirectly) by a taxable REIT subsidiary to the REIT (earnings stripping). (Sec. 715) Imposes on a REIT a tax equal to 100 percent of redetermined rents, redetermined deductions, and excess interest. (Sec. 721) Sets forth a special foreclosure rule for health care properties acquired by a REIT as the result of the termination of a lease of such property (other than a termination by reason of a default, or the imminence of a default, on the lease). Requires disregard of income derived or received by a REIT from an independent contractor to the extent it is attributable to: (1) any lease of property in effect on the date the REIT acquired the qualified health care property; or (2) any lease of property entered into after such date if a lease of such property from the trust was in effect on such date, and under the terms of the new lease, the REIT receives a substantially similar or lesser benefit in comparison to the first kind of lease. (Sec. 731) Reduces from 95 percent to 90 percent of REIT income and of the excess of the net income from foreclosure property over the tax on foreclosure property specified components of the formula for determination of the amount of dividend deductions which help establish the taxability of REIT income. Reduces from 95 percent to 90 percent of REIT gross income a specified component of the formula for determining the amount of tax imposed on a REIT for failure to meet certain requirements. (Sec. 741) Requires that only persons who own, directly or indirectly, more than five percent of a certain class of stock regularly traded on an established securities market be taken into account as owning any of the stock of such class for purposes of the 35-percent ownership rule determining whether a person is (under 35-percent ownership) or is not (over 35-percent ownership) an independent contractor for purposes of determining rents from real property, and of the special rules for foreclosure property, with respect to REIT taxation. (Sec. 751) Declares that any distribution by a regulated investment company (RIC) made in order to comply with certain tax requirements shall be treated as made from the earliest earnings and profits accumulated in any taxable year to which certain other requirements did not apply (non-RIC year) rather than the most recently accumulated earnings and profits. Subtitle C: Private Activity Bond Volume Cap - Provides for an accelerated phase-in of specified increases in the volume cap on private activity bonds. Subtitle D: Exclusion From Gross Income for Certain Forgiven Mortgage Obligations - Excludes from gross income the discharge of qualified residential indebtedness, that is, the excess (if any) of the outstanding principal amount of such indebtedness (immediately before discharge), over the sum of any sales proceeds and any other outstanding principal indebtedness secured by such property. Title VIII: Miscellaneous Provisions - Amends the Code with respect to the credit for expenditures to provide access to disabled individuals to include in such credit 50 percent of so much of the eligible bus access expenditures for the taxable year with respect to each eligible bus as exceed $250 but do not exceed $30,250. (Sec. 802) Excludes from an employee's gross income as a scholarship up to $2,000 per taxable year of certain educational benefits provided by an employer to the employee's child. (Sec. 803) Allows a tax credit for 20 percent (up to $20,000) of the qualified wages paid or incurred to each qualified employee during the calendar year (ending with or within the taxable year) by each qualified U.S. independent film and television production.
United States · United States Congress · 7 October 1999
Senior Citizen Protection Act of 1999 - Amends title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to extend the authority of State Medicaid fraud control units to investigate and prosecute: (1) fraud in other Federal health care programs; and (2) resident abuse in non-Medicaid board and care facilities. Includes other Federal health care programs within provisions on the recoupment of overpayment.
United States · United States Congress · 5 October 1999
Russian Economic Restoration and Justice Act of 1999 - Amends the Bretton Woods Agreements Act to direct the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to use the U.S. vote to urge the IMF to: (1) not provide any assistance to the Russian Federation government until there is in effect a Russian federal law that implements specified economic reforms; and (2) provide assistance to the Russian Federation only to aid in implementation of such reforms. Establishes a Russian-American financial oversight commission to monitor the use of Western resources in Russia. Expresses the sense of Congress that: (1) there should be established joint United States-Russian business, economics, and agricultural education programs in which Russian Federation students on completion of their studies in the United States be required to return to the Russian Federation and work for the federal or regional government in Russia; and (2) the United States and the government of the Russian Federation should create a program which would link successful U.S. business leaders with their Russian Federation counterparts so that Russian Federation companies will be better able to access a pool of resources and knowledge to assist them in their transition to successfully competing in a market-based economy. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to instruct the U.S. Executive Director at the IMF to use the U.S. vote to urge the IMF to create a commission, composed of prominent international financial experts, to draw up recommendations for reforming the IMF, with a view to achieving more transparency in the structures of the IMF and increasing the effectiveness of its programs while decreasing financial risk. Establishes a pilot housing loan program (to be administered through a nonprofit corporation) in which the average Russian citizen may attain affordable home ownership.
United States · United States Congress · 1 October 1999
Expresses the sense of Congress that the Brooklyn Museum of Art should not receive Federal funds unless it closes its exhibit featuring works of a sacrilegious nature.
United States · United States Congress · 30 September 1999
Medicare Hospital Outpatient Payment Equality (HOPE) Act of 1999 - Amends title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide under the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for outpatient hospital services for a special payment adjustment for certain visits, among other changes made to such payment system. Amends the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to establish a temporary limitation on reductions in Federal payments for covered outpatient hospital services. Provides for the retroactivity of certain portions of this Act.
United States · United States Congress · 21 September 1999
Foreign Money Laundering Deterrence and Anticorruption Act - Amends Federal law governing monetary transactions to set forth requirements relating to transactions and accounts with or on behalf of foreign entities. (Sec. 4) Expresses the sense of Congress that, in its deliberations with another country concerning money laundering and corruption issues, the United States should: (1) emphasize an approach that addresses not only the laundering of traditional criminal activity proceeds, but also the endemic problem of governmental corruption and the corruption of ruling elites; and (2) encourage enactment and enforcement of laws in such country to prevent money laundering and systemic corruption. Directs the Secretary of the Treasury to: (1) instruct the United States Executive Directors of each international financial institution to oppose any loan, disbursement, or other utilization of resources by the international financial institution (other than to address basic human needs) for any country the Secretary determines has a high level of corruption and is not taking meaningful steps to reduce it; and (2) report annually to Congress on deliberations between the United States and other countries regarding money laundering and corruption issues. (Sec. 5) Revises Federal law with respect to immunity from civil liability for disclosures of suspicious monetary transactions made by a financial institution and any of its directors, officers, employees, or agents to: (1) limit such disclosures to those made to an appropriate governmental agency; (2) extend such immunity to an independent accountant who audits a financial institution; and (3) include immunity from liability under contracts or other legally enforceable agreements. Extends such immunity also to any failure to notify either the subject of such disclosure, or any other person identified in it. Makes such immunity inapplicable to any disclosure or communication required under Federal securities law unless such law specifically refers to the Currency and Foreign Transactions Reporting Act of 1970. Prohibits notification of such disclosures or their contents to any person involved in the suspect transaction by any person, including any Government officer or employee, who knows that a report has been made. Exempts from such prohibition any use of related information by government officers in the conduct of either official duties or law enforcement, regulatory, or investigative proceedings. States that written employment references submitted by a financial institution to another upon request may disclose information concerning possible involvement in suspicious transactions relevant to possible illegalities. Shields from civil liability any financial institution and its directors, officers, employees, and agents for such a disclosure, unless it is false or made with reckless disregard for the truth. (Sec. 6) Amends Federal criminal law to specify new unlawful money laundering activities, including: (1) fraud committed against a foreign governmental entity; (2) certain munitions smuggling or export; (3) misuse of funds of certain international institutions, including the International Monetary Fund; and (4) failure to report to the appropriate Federal agency the ownership or control of a foreign corporation, of a financial account, or of a beneficial interest in a foreign trust. (Sec. 7) Imposes a fine or imprisonment penalty for false statements concerning the identity of customers of financial institutions.
United States · United States Congress · 15 September 1999
Requires the Secretary of the Interior to insert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the District of Columbia a suitable plaque to commemorate the speech of Martin Luther King, Jr., known as the "I Have A Dream" speech.
United States · United States Congress · 9 September 1999
Recognizes and honors the efforts of the Family Friendly Programming Forum and other entities supporting family friendly programming. Expresses support for efforts of the television network and production community to produce more quality family friendly programming, as well as the Family Friendly Programming Awards, development fund, and scholarships. Encourages the media and American advertisers to further a family friendly television environment with appropriate advertisements accompanying the programming.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Prohibits the United States from operating a U.S. consulate in Jerusalem unless it is under the supervision of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel. Requires any official U.S. Government document which lists countries and their capital cities to identify Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Declares that, for purposes of registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport of a U.S. citizen born in the city of Jerusalem, the Secretary of State shall, upon the citizen's request, record the place of birth as Israel.
United States · United States Congress · 5 August 1999
Jerusalem Birthplace Act of 1999 - Requires the Secretary of State to record the place of birth as Jerusalem, Israel, for purposes of the registration of birth, certification of nationality, or issuance of a passport with respect to a U.S. citizen born in the city of Jerusalem.
![Official portrait of Rep. Lazio, Rick [R-NY-2]](https://www.congress.gov/img/member/l000155_200.jpg)